By JANE HADLEY, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Published 10:00 pm, Sunday, April 17, 2005

Impatient and irascible, Transportation Secretary Doug MacDonald was hired four years ago to improve the accountability of the state Department of Transportation, the multibillion-dollar agency that oversees construction and maintenance of the state's highways and runs Washington State Ferries.

Many say he has done just that.

But under a plan moving through the Legislature, MacDonald would be guaranteed a major job review. Senate Bill 5513 would take the power to appoint the secretary away from the state Transportation Commission and give it to the governor.

It's a change that governors and many legislators of both parties have been wanting to make for years, since before MacDonald got the job.

Some members and former members of the commission see the appeal of the change but also warn of risks. One of the main ones, they say, is that the tenure of the transportation secretary will grow shorter.

"Transportation projects last 10 to 15 years," former Commissioner Connie Niva said. "If you're going to change horses every four years, that doesn't do a service to the state. That's probably one of the biggest concerns -- the continuity."

With secretaries cycling through frequently, department employees will be "more and more in charge," said Aubrey Davis, former chairman of the commission.

Transportation Commissioner Richard Ford, former executive director of the Port of Seattle, said the average tenure of secretaries appointed by governors is two years.

Legislation creating the commission in 1951 referred to the desire to reduce political pressure on the chief highway administrator, Ford said.

"I'm not saying we're completely immune from those pressures, but it's easier for our (commission)," he said. "We don't have to run for re-election."

Even a supporter of the bill, Sen. Dan Swecker, R-Rochester, said, "Moving the secretary under the governor smacks a little bit of politicizing the process."

But Swecker said that's why the Senate bill keeps the Transportation Commission and gives it various roles, such as holding public hearings and doing long-range planning. Commissioners are bipartisan, have a range of expertise and represent different parts of the state. Their involvement could "balance" the power of the governor, Swecker believes.

The House bill initially would have abolished the commission immediately but has been amended to provide that a bipartisan legislative committee would be given a year to decide what roles various entities, including the commission, should play.

MacDonald, who declined an interview, is reportedly interested in continuing to serve if the governor is given the power to appoint.

MacDonald praised

Legislators of both parties and transportation commissioners applaud the job MacDonald has done, and several predict Gov. Christine Gregoire would reappoint him.

"He's a very assertive person, very much an advocate for his position, but he's done a spectacular job," Swecker says.

"They've done a significantly better job than in the past of delivering what they say they're going to on time and on budget," says Sen. Bill Finkbeiner, R-Kirkland.

Leahy says he particularly admires MacDonald's "action orientation" and his attempts to get agreement on contentious issues.

MacDonald, who grew up on Mercer Island, has a Harvard law degree and a reputation for brains. As transportation secretary, he introduced the quarterly "Gray Notebook," which reports on projects, programs and the department's management -- including bad news and good.

The department's Web site (www.wsdot.wa.gov) is filled with project information, continues to grow and is a major destination for people searching for road and traffic conditions. Cameras on the Web site give visitors real-time views of freeway conditions.

Rutherford says he was surprised -- and impressed -- when he heard MacDonald speak to a women's transportation group.

"MacDonald got up and said, 'These high-occupancy-vehicle lanes, we've got to manage these in the end for transit, because we've got to keep the level of service high.' I was really shocked. I've never seen a DOT secretary say that."

The public often hates the lanes, but studies show they're "really effective," Rutherford said.

MacDonald told a mostly business group last year that the department is editing out of its documents claims that department projects will provide "congestion relief."

"Now there's an honest guy," Rutherford said. "The honest answer is if you don't do these things, it's going to be a terrible thing. If you do these things, it's going to be a little bit less terrible."

Niva says it's hard for a secretary to say such things, because people don't want to hear that a transportation project will provide "a decrease in the increase of congestion."

Despite his support for Seattle's light rail project, MacDonald has found himself at odds with transit advocates opposed to adding most general-purpose highway lanes.

Aaron Ostrom, executive director of Futurewise, the environmental group formerly called 1000 Friends of Washington, credits MacDonald with making some good changes in the department and supporting Sound Transit's light rail. But he adds, "In some of these megaprojects (for highways), he has been given the assignment of pursuing a lot of new capacity, and he hasn't really challenged that."

MacDonald has failed to change the department's highway culture, he says.

'Blunt and opinionated'

MacDonald, divorced with two grown sons, is widely known as a workaholic who is interested in details. He is particularly interested in how public agencies communicate with the public, insisting that documents are easily understandable to the average person.

A diabetic, he likes to bike during his rare times off. On the job, he often goes tieless and carries a canvas bag instead of a briefcase.

"I've never seen anybody who works all night and all day," Haugen says. "If he has a weakness, I just think he tries to do everything himself."

The fidgety MacDonald attends countless meetings, but his chair is often empty. He wanders to take or make phone calls, talk with somebody or do paperwork. The commission reportedly shuffled seat assignments to try to keep him in the room more.

He is also a demanding boss, at times dressing down employees in front of others. When he began the job, he rearranged staffers.Legislators say they don't mind MacDonald's blunt manner.

Murray says, "He's a blunt, opinionated guy, but I'm a fairly blunt, opinionated guy, so I don't have a problem with it."

But one major stumble for the secretary was a proposed construction site in Port Angeles for making Hood Canal Bridge pontoons. Contractors began digging and discovered bones. Eventually, it was apparent the site was a major Indian burial ground. The site was abandoned after the department had spent about $60 million.

MacDonald and the commission have been the target of sharp criticism as a result, and an independent audit of the project was recently announced.

Rep. Beverly Woods, R-Kingston, ranking minority member on the House Transportation Committee, says the project is a perfect example of why the secretary should be appointed by the governor.

Woods said she asked questions about who authorized the overrun in money and the fact the digging wasn't stopped until 300 sets of remains had been found.